Editorial Review

The sixth "epic novel" in Dav Pilkey's hugely popular series explainsthe awful truth about Captain Underpants (he is really the schoolprincipal), details "the night of the nasty nostril nuggets," offers up"the unnecessarily disgusting chapter," and even explains how "you can'thave your cape and Edith, too."

George and Harold are "C" students (and bad spellers), but they are verygood at "saving the entire planet from the nasty forces of unrelentingevil" and also at ketchup-toilet pranks. Unfortunately, they can't saveMelvin Sneedly from getting paddled by his bionic hamster. But, frankly,they wouldn't want to, because besides being the school brainiac, Melvin is also a tattletale. When his robot-making hobby backfires horribly, Melvin transforms himself into the Bionic Booger Boy instead of a bionic superboy. Can Captain Underpants save everyone from this "greenish, glistening behemoth?"

Reviews (3)

very motivational / helps you part with your junk
There are many books on getting organized, decluttering, and such, but Aslett's really are the best.They're laugh-out-loud funny, inspiring, and not bogged down in detail.And the best part is, they work.This is one of the few weight loss books that has made a big difference within a few days -- I just finished filling three large trash bags and boxing a room full of stuff for charity.Aslett's approach is successful because he starts from the premise that the more stuff you have, the more time and money and energy you spend dealing with that stuff, and before long, the stuff owns you.He helps you conquier the I=Might=Need=It someday syndrome and helps you see that keeping things you don't need/use/love just causes frustration. He helps you see that getting rid of stuff (rather than just organizing it into shelves, closets and other "junk bunkers" is liberating.He deals with clutter in all aspects of life in a way that really makes sense.For example, he discusses how taking a bargain vacation can really cost you in the long run.This book is a little more globally-conscious/environmental than some of the others, but not in an academic way.The book is easy to read and is one of the few books I've read on decluttering that I'll keep and I'll read again someday. It's focus is on decluttering, not cleaning or organizing.If you only want to organize things rather than pare down your things, this isn't your book.The only reason I gave this four stars (rather than five) is because I don't think it's quite as good as some of Aslett's earlier books, most notably Clutter's Last Stand.

Wonderful!
Absolutely superb! Quite possibly your best book yet.(The horror stories alone make it well worth the price.) I've long believed that there comes a point where your possessions own you, instead of the other way around. Why do so many people think they'll need things "someday?" Pack-ratting really is a rampant form of obesity. So I'm calling my furniture consignment dealer...today!

Editorial Review

While wisely rated G for Gross ("Contains immature material not suitable for adults"), Andy Griffiths' very funny debut novel will almost certainly blow away--perhaps literally, stinkingly--anyone of any age who's ever suspected that their backside might be up to something.

Translated from the Australian (sold Down Under as "The Day My Bum Went Psycho"), this adventure begins with the nighttime flight of our 12-year-old protagonist Zach's pale little heinie and doesn't let up for over 200 pages--most of which are filled almost exclusively with the word "butt." At first, Zach believes his butt might be leading some sort of minor butt rebellion, but the plot quickly thickens to include a global army of feral butts, the "greatest buttcano in the history of the world," and a head-butt "rearrangement" conspiracy that goes all the way to the... um, bottom. Our well-meaning but naive hero Zach soon gets mixed up with the butt-fighting "B-team" (the Kicker, the Kisser, and the Smacker, who all "love the smell of freshly smacked butt in the morning!"), fires his very first 4502-LL ("The LL stood for Laxative Launcher"), learns how to "butt-hop" ("The average butt has enough gas to propel itself and a rider for twenty minutes...."), and goes on a long, wild chase involving cluster butts, buttcatchers, kamikaze butts, stinkants, and even the fearsome Stenchgantor, "the Great Unwiped Butt." (And that's not even counting all those seagoing butt piranhas and poopoises.)

Reviews (74)

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren
How to Read a Book clearly explains the four levels of reading a book. These are elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. The authors teach that each reading level builds on the previous one. It was shown that the ability to read at the inspectional, analytical and syntopical levels were required to review a book or research paper effectively. It is clear that learning to read actively and effectively is a complex skill that requires careful and detailed study.

The authors of How to Read a Book, Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren, clearly and methodically delineate the four levels of reading, namely elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. The authors explain how each level builds on the previous one. The authors have a deep understanding of a wide range of subjects. They presented propositions and arguments in a logical, thorough and convincing manner. This is reflected in their ability to simplify the subject whilst capturing its essence in a simple, easy to follow and understandable style.

How to Read a Book is divided into four parts. The first part teaches the distinction between the four levels of reading. In this section there is a detailed discussion of the first two levels of reading, namely elementary and inspectional. The second part focuses on the third level of reading, namely analytical. The rules of analytical reading are carefully explained. The three stages of analytical reading comprise the rules for finding what a book is about, interpreting a book's contents and criticising a book as a communication of knowledge.

Part three is an exposition of the different ways to approach different kinds of reading materials which include practical and theoretical books, imaginative literature, history, science, mathematics, social science and philosophy. Part four of the book focuses on the ultimate goal of reading, that is, syntopical reading. It teaches how to achieve a goal of lifetime reading.

I have never been formally taught to read properly. The book provided me with the opportunity to learn to carry my reading to higher levels of skill. The book enabled me to understand the complex art of reading and the flexible application of some basic rules to different types of reading.

My job involves carrying out a lot of research on various airline subjects that requires reading a number of related books. The book teaches me how to read the different books in relation to one another in such a way that I can clearly understand the complementary and conflicting aspects.

I need to continue learning throughout my life. The book teaches me how to choose the best books to read so that I can develop the habit of self-directed lifetime learning.

This didn't help me.
Now, living in a digital age, I've never needed to read a book, since all useful knowledge is available in DVD or Playstation formats.But I've always wanted to try a book, and so I ordered this product with the expectation that it would provide the necessary instruction.This could not have been farther from the truth.When the package arrived, it was a flat rectangular thing about the density of light pine.It did not ship with instructions, so I proceeded to try to discern the proper method of operation.There was no obvious power switch, no place to insert batteries, no AC power adapter, nothing.It was obviously on, since it was displaying an image on top, so I assumed it used solar power.The device must have crashed, since the display was frozen, and I could not find the reset switch.

Since it was broken, I decided to open it up see if any components had come loose from their sockets during shipping.It opened extremely easily with a screwdriver inserted into the side, and a small amount of vertical force applied.Inside was a system of type I had never seen before.Thin white flexible PCBs with the source code imprinted directly on the boards!This was easier than I expected, the process did not require any kind of debugger or data reader to gain access to the source.I didn't not recognize the software language the source was written in, perhaps it was some hybrid language, with the verbosity of Java and the relaxed grammar of Perl.I Googled some code samples, but was unable to find a compiler.At this point I gave up, I never called Amazon for an RMA number as I'm sure I voided the warranty by disassembling it, but I did get some nice digital pics of the interior for my website.